Gifts-in-Kind Policy
General Library Collections Donations
Rod Library welcomes gifts of books, commercial sound recordings, commercial videos, and other materials for the Library's general collections. Gifts supplement the Library's purchase and licensing of materials, providing items otherwise unavailable, replacing lost or worn materials, or furnishing additional copies of heavily used resources. However, given the costs associated with reviewing and processing gifts, the Library is able to add only materials that support the University’s needs.
Making A Donation
This policy is for donations to the general Rod Library collections only. Special Collections & University Archives, the UNI Museum, and the Center for Rural Schools have separate and/or additional donation policies. You can refer to those policies here:
Offers to donate materials to the Library’s general collections should be made by contacting the Collections and Cataloging Unit by phone at (319) 273-2801. We will ask you about the size and general content of the gift, and determine its appropriateness for the general collection. In some instances, large collections offered by a local donor may be reviewed at the donor’s location by a librarian.
The donor is responsible for arranging for delivery of their gift accepted for review to the Collections and Cataloging Unit of the Library, preferably by mail but personal delivery can be accepted by appointment. For collections located on campus, donors can make arrangements for delivery by Physical Plant-Transportation personnel.
Terms of Acceptance
Not all potential gifts of materials are appropriate for the Library's general collections, and some offers may be declined. Gifts are accepted with the understanding that the addition of materials is completely at the discretion of the Library. Materials that are accepted become the property of the Library and are subject to the policies and procedures that govern Library collections, including potential withdrawal of material no longer needed. The Rod Library Gift Donations form documents the agreement made with the donor, and any conditions associated with the gift.
Gifts accepted by the Library ordinarily are integrated into the appropriate general collection. The Library does not maintain separate named collections except by prior agreement of the Associate University Librarian of Content Discovery and the Dean of Library Services. Public acknowledgement of gifts, accessible through the Library’s online catalog, may be added at the donor's request.
Acknowledgement of Gifts
All gifts are acknowledged by a letter from the Dean of Library Services. Donors may wish to compile a list of items for their records prior to donation. Federal tax law prohibits the Library from assessing monetary value to gifts. It is the donor's responsibility to assign a value for tax purposes or to have the donation independently appraised for this purpose.
Materials Generally Not Accepted
The Library does not generally accept donations of the following materials:
- Items in poor physical condition
- Books with highlighting, underlining or annotations
- Advance reading copies or uncorrected proofs
- Outdated or superseded titles
- Elementary and secondary textbooks (except for HNI Corporation IRTS)
- College textbooks more than 5 years old (with some exceptions)
- Computer and software manuals
- Mass market paperbacks
- Condensed or abridged books
- General encyclopedias
- VHS tapes
- Audio cassettes
- Vinyl records (with some exceptions)
- Compact discs (with some exceptions)
- U.S. Government publications
- Print issues of periodicals, unless needed to fill gaps in the Library’s holdings of a particular title
Disposal of Gifts Not Added
Once gifts for the general library collections are donated to the library, they automatically become state property and cannot be returned to the donor.
Gifts that are not added to Rod Library’s general collections may be disposed of following university policy 8.01.
Adopted/Revised: March 2021; March 2024
Reviewed: December 2021;